Worth County’s boys will be taller than most of the teams they play this year. But they looked like midgets compared to the 6’10" Stephan Elliott, one of the two tallest players ever to play on the hardwoods in Northwest Missouri. He was 6’8" last year and put on two more inches this year. The scary thing is that he is only a junior this year. The only other person that tall to play in the area was Jefferson’s Doug Archer, who was also 6’10"; Jefferson won some state titles when he was around.
But the problem with Princeton is that they are under a new coach, which can change the chemistry of a team. There are new rules, expectations, and ways to play the game. For Worth County, Bryce Schafer is in his third year, which means that the players usually know what to expect from him. But Princeton’s new skipper, Michael Creekmore, will need some time to get his expectations down. If the players buy into his system, the Blue Tigers will challenge for a GRC title this year – they played Stanberry tough and beat Albany after losing Tuesday night’s game to Worth County 57-49.
Thankfully, Worth County got a break when Elliott slammed the floor late in the first quarter and was pulled for the rest of the half. In the meantime, Worth County built up a 23-12 lead at the break and held off Elliott and Princeton’s attempts to get back in the game in the second half. Freshman Isaac Alarcon announced his presence for Worth County with a monster chasedown stuff on his very first play in a varsity uniform as Worth County led 12-11 after one. Without Elliott, Princeton couldn’t get anything going in the second quarter as Worth County held them to a lone free throw as they built up their lead. Chris Alarcon hit two 3-pointers and Cade Allee one in the second.
But in the third quarter, Worth County saw what Elliott was about; he was draining 3-pointers with Mason Hawk all over him, he was driving to the rack at will, and he was posting up inside as well. If he keeps this up, he will be able to play at the college level somewhere. He scored 13 in the third period as Princeton came back to within 34-31. He continued to attack the rim in the fourth; his free throws kept Princeton to within 38-35 with 5:37 left. But then Worth County began trapping him every time he touched the ball and he started throwing it away.
Isaac Alarcon was one of the few Tiger players not afraid to go up against Elliott despite being almost a foot smaller; he schooled him twice with a putback and a pair of free throws early in the frame. Finally, Isaac took a charge on Elliott for his fourth foul and Drake Kinsella took him on and drew his fifth the next time down the court as Worth County got the lead back into double digits at 51-39. Princeton made one last charge, coming to within 55-49 following a steal with 1:04 off the press, but Tiger freshman Caleb Parman’s first varsity free throws couldn’t have come at a bigger time as he hit two with 41 seconds left and Worth County got a stop and ran out the clock.
Nine different Tigers scored for Bryce Schafer’s squad, an outcome that pleased him greatly. Brevyn Ross had 14, Isaac Alarcon 8, Chris Alarcon 7, Cade Allee and Mason Hawk 6, and Ryan McClellan, Drake Simmons, Caleb Parman, and Drake Kinsella all had 4.
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